Pakistan policeman with Al Qaeda link on VIP security
By IANSThursday, February 3, 2011
ISLAMABAD - A policeman assigned to protect top Pakistani politicians, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, is linked to Al Qaeda, a media report said Thursday.
The Express Tribune newspaper said the unnamed policeman belonged to an elite force assigned for VIP security.
It said he managed to get recruited in the police force of Punjab province on the basis of a forged domicile.
He was earlier suspended and interrogated by intelligence agencies for his links with the Al Qaeda, the paper said.
“It is ironical that the suspension of an official with such a shady record was not only overturned but he was again assigned important security duties.”
The policeman has served in the security squad of former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Gilani’s family residence in Lahore and the Lahore office of the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA).
“The latest records show that he was doing these sensitive duties till December,” the daily said.
The report comes a month after Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own security guard Jan 4.
Mumtaz Qadri, who was also a member of the same police force, has said he killed Taseer because the latter spoke out against the blasphemy law.
After Taseer’s assassination, the Punjab and Sindh police have ordered thorough screenings of all officials on security duty.
